


Don't Ask

by UrbanMuzes (notenuffcaffeine)



Category: CHAOS (TV 2011)
Genre: Fake/Pretend Relationship, Fluff and Humor, Gen, Gen Work, Office Pranks
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-25
Updated: 2016-01-25
Packaged: 2018-05-16 03:00:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,377
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5811073
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/notenuffcaffeine/pseuds/UrbanMuzes
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>This was inspired by a regular, beautiful visual from the show itself.  Why do they always line up with a short team member between Billy and Michael?</p>
            </blockquote>





	Don't Ask

**Author's Note:**

> No spoilers anywhere. References Two Percent, nods to Core Fortitude, but nothing spoilery.
> 
> \---------

Rick Martinez had to hurry his steps up some, annoyed that the two men had such long strides. Casey Malick was right, their two much taller team mates could, when they wanted to, make it exceptionally difficult for a short man to keep up with them. The team leader, Michael Dorset, was not exceptionally tall at 5'11”, and while Billy Collins was arguably exceptionally tall at a couple of inches higher up in the world than Michael, both men were a lot taller than Rick and Casey's five-and-a-half frames.

Usually it was Casey who stayed between the other two, allowing Rick to trail along trying to keep up with the men that seemed to stride through the halls with such confidence. Today, however, Casey was feeling the sores of his last fight, so it was up to Rick to stay in step with their team mates. And Rick was really starting to doubt the reasoning for why exactly that had to be. There was no longer any doubt that the two men had intentionally sped up their steps, either. Both Michael and Billy were walking in full stride and Rick was out of breath and no longer even sure where they were going.

Frustrated, and certain his legs were going to be cramping later, Rick slowed to drop back with Casey, who was really hard pressed to keep within four feet of the rest of them. “You okay?”

“Yes, I'm- wait, what are you doing?” Casey's expression indicated serious concern for Rick's sanity.

“I'm walking,” said Rick.

“Between the- Damn.” Casey caught Rick's arm, got both of them moving faster. Rick stumbled over his shoes, but got the hint as he realized Michael and Billy could walk faster after all and were now ducking around the next corner with matching smirks.

* * *

Michael glanced over at Billy as soon as Rick dropped back, the tiny smirk on Michael’s lips mirrored by the other man. Together they sped their pace to a fast walk, easily outpaced the other two, and as soon as they got around the first corner they broke into childish sprints down the hallway to get as far ahead as they could.

As they turned the next corner, Billy caught the wall to make the turn and looked back. The hall behind them was still empty.

“Quick, in there,” he hissed. Michael got the door open, and both men scrabbled through and into the break room. They were out the door on the far side a few seconds later and headed down another hallway.

“Do you think he's figured us out yet?” asked Michael. Their pace finally slowed as they headed down another hall and cut through the file room.

“I would seriously doubt it,” said Billy. “I’d say we've been very careful after all these years.”

Michael nodded. “We'll need to watch Martinez though. He's new, but he's smart. He might figure it out.”

“Nah, the kid's too gullible.” Billy opened the next door for Michael and motioned him into a storage room. “He'll believe whatever we want him to believe.”

“True,” said Michael. “And if not, he is highly susceptible to suggestion.” He made himself comfortable on top of a filing cabinet as Billy checked the hallway and closed the door.

“So, how long do you think we have before they find us?” asked Billy.

Michael checked his watch. “I'm going to guess we have a good half hour. If they don't find us before then, we should probably head back to the office.”

* * *

“They were right in front of us.” Rick closed the door of the supply closet and looked over at Casey.

“And then they weren't,” said Casey. He scowled at Rick, still content to place all the blame where he felt it belonged. “I told you. Stay between them when they are walking.”

“They walk faster than I can.”

“That is no excuse.”

“Why not? It’s just a walk down the hall. I mean, we all end up at the same destination anyway, why do we have to show up winded?” asked Rick. Casey stared at the man like he were a child still confused about the necessity for training wheels.

“Remember my rules about workplace distractions?” Casey asked. It was a leading question. The pointed arch of his brow and the intimidating cross of his arms told Rick that he had better remember or he was going to get a reminder lecture. It had been a long day, he had just been lead on a partial chase half way around the building for no apparent reason given that his boss had disappeared without them, and Rick just wasn’t on his game. He improvised and nodded.

“Yeah, your percentage points, plus or minus, and focus and all that,” he said.

Casey stared at him, eyes narrowed and randomly cutting to the door with a half-sideways jerk of the head. He was getting at something that he wasn’t going to say. And it was Casey, after all, and Rick was new to the very suggestion that interrogations might someday be in his reality, so he didn’t push it. Again, his mind followed its own course from Casey’s paranoia-addled leading and connected its own dots. Rick’s jaw went slack, his eyes bugged, he looked to the door as though he could see through it to see the answer walk around the corner through the metal.

“No way,” he finally said.

Casey just stared at him again. Rick tilted his head, a little puzzled, trying to fit pieces back into the right order against his past few weeks with the team. 

“Nah. No way,” he said finally. He looked back to Casey, noted his ‘take it or leave it’ shrug. “You're sure about this?”

Casey scoffed at the question. “I've never asked, if that's what you mean, but yes, short of risking don't ask don't tell, I am sure.”

“So what?” Rick double stepped to get ahead of Casey, his hands spread out as he stopped in front of the other man. “They are both adults. What does it matter?”

“I never said it mattered. It’s the percentage points that matter.” Casey scowled at Rick. He was not about to point out, or worse, state, what he felt was not needed to be said or pointed out. He finally just shook his head. “Never mind. Come on.”

“Where?” Rick had to speed up to keep up with Casey as the man headed back the way they had come.

“Back to the office. We're not going to find them, we might as well get some work done.”

* * *

“It's time,” said Michael. He swung his legs around so that he could stand up from where he had been half napping and dropped to the floor. He smacked Billy's knee to wake him up.

“Already?” asked Billy, yawning. “I just got to sleep.”

“Yeah, come on. I still have some files I need to get finished.”

“Here, hold up,” said Billy. He dropped down to the floor and caught Michael by the shoulder to turn him back around. “Your tie is half undone.”

Michael smirked and reached out to catch Billy's tie in return, “And yours is a bit too neat.” After a bit of a tug to set the tie to its normal askew angle, Michael nodded and the two men stepped back out of the room, each one smirking. “I really am surprised that Casey has not caught on yet.”

“He's a wee bit too suspicious to think we would be doing anything to be suspicious about,” said Billy. Michael laughed at that and nodded. “Besides,” said Billy, “as long as he thinks that we're up to something, we get to catch up on much needed sleep.”

“True,” said Michael. “And it is fun to watch him try to pretend nothing happened.”

Billy nodded. “How long do you think it will be before Rick cracks and outright asks us about it?”

“I give him a week at most.”

Billy nodded, “And what do we tell him when he asks?”

“Don't ask, don't tell,” said Michael. He shrugged as they rounded another corner in the labyrinthine building. “I don’t know about you, but I get more sleep in these closets than I do at home anymore.”

~ ~


End file.
